Breaking Tweets » K Mensah

Swine flu confirmed in Ghana

K Mensah — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:50:08 +0000

Per AfricaNews: Health services in Ghana have switched on their surveillance systems as the West African country records its first H1N1 (swine flu) case since its outbreak. The Ghana Health Service confirmed two cases on Thursday. One is in the capital Accra and the other in the Western region bordering Ivory Coast.

Twitterers in the country are expressing their shock and doubts about the health authorities’ ability to handle the cases:

konkrumah (Accra, Ghana): wondering how Ghana’s authorities can really battle swine flu….its finally here and we dont know how many people we dont know who have it.

lionelnuno (West Africa, Ghana): Did u hear Swine Flu is in Ghana……are we we well equipped to handle an outbreak?? Scarryy…

MamaHot13 (Accra, Ghana): Swine flu in Ghana? Holly Molly!! I so love pork! What I go do now??????????

MamaHot13 (Accra, Ghana): Cover ya mouth when you cough or sneeze.

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Protests erupt in South Africa

K Mensah — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:50:10 +0000

Per Reuters, Protesters hurled stones at police, who responded with teargas and rubber bullets, after thousands marched through South Africa’s Thokoza township on Wednesday over poor services and unemployment. The violent protests piled pressure on President Jacob Zuma to deliver on government promises of help for the poor three months after elections.

However, this situation has received insignificant attention on Twitter. Instead, the majority of Twitterers in and around South Africa busily tweeting about their lifestyle and vacation:

W_H_Swagspeare Violence in South Africa’s towns has spread as residents protest about what they say is a lack of basic services, such as water and housing. 22 Jul 2009 from web

gamemasterng On my way to South Africa!!! http://myloc.me/cHZg 22 Jul 2009 from UberTwitter

davethegr8 Just secured a safe house in Johannesburg, South Africa. #spymaster http://bit.ly/playspy 22 Jul 2009 from Spymaster

megareed looking forward to going to south africa! 22 Jul 2009 from mobile web

mikegechter_rss Violent protests of a lack of basic services in South Africa: Riots are breaking out in South Africa as proteste.. http://bit.ly/10qIeo 22 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

sparkiepark @thepitts When are you coming to sunny South Africa again? 22 Jul 2009 from web in reply to thepitts

roblith SAT3 doubles capacity to South Africa 22 Jul 2009 from TweetDeck

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Obama pledges $63 billion to fight diseases in Africa

K Mensah — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:16:15 +0000

Per AfricaNews: United States President Barack Obama has pledged $63 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and polio on the African continent. Speaking during his weekend visit to Ghana in West Africa, he said: “We will fight neglected tropical diseases. And we won’t confront illnesses in isolation.”

Per BBC: Meanwhile, the US President has said Africa must take charge of its own destiny in the world. He said that good governance was vital for development.

Twitterers around the world are scrutinizing his speech:

tkriii (Undisclosed) finally watched Obama’s speech in Ghana. personally, i love it…now let’s hope, overall, we are on the path to a peaceful future with ALL. 12 Jul 2009 from web

mensah (Accra, Ghana) Just finished reading the entire speech of Barack Obama in Ghana. http://is.gd/1w7fa I watched it too live on TV 12 Jul 2009 from web

ghanamixtapes (Toronto, Canada) @CERTIFIEDKING #obama was so emotional in #ghana #slavecastle he cldnt even address the people of #capecoast. 12 Jul 2009 from TwitterSpy

FredBardy (Asaba, Nigeria) RT Obama’s Speech In Ghana: Notes For Nigeria – Reuben Abati http://bit.ly/1astUr 12 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

Pjmezz (Undisclosed) Ghana: Bloggers React to Obama’s Speech in Ghana http://u.mavrev.com/lml6 12 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

omaripili (Undisclosed) @cnnbrk Ghana is the gateway to Africa, if the US wants to make an alliance they might be in for a corporate fight with the EU. 12 Jul 2009 from TwitterFon in reply to cnnbrk

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Obama lands in Ghana

K Mensah — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:08:26 +0000

Per AfricaNews: “Ghanaians are proud to be the first people in Sub-Sahara Africa to host revered US President Barack Obama. He lands on the shores of the former Gold Coast on Friday evening.”

Accra, the capital is awash with giant billboards of smiling Obama and a lot of paraphernalia ranging from T-shirts, umbrellas, wrist bands, cloths and caps selling along the street. Ghanaians are planning a mammoth and thunderous welcome for the US president right from the Kotoka International Airport to the principal streets, per the article.

Twitterers in and around Ghana are happily talking about the long awaited visit:

NalejBonz And Obama is in Ghana this weekend. *double fist pump* lol. I know Accra must be INSANE right now. Love it. 10 Jul 2009 from UberTwitter

DynamicDiva42 Watching The Today Show. Segment is on a hotel called Hotel Obama in Ghana. I love it! 10 Jul 2009 from UberTwitter

Lauratu Whoo hooo!!! Obama’s in Ghana 10 Jul 2009 from UberTwitter

ScienceLifeNY Obama is going to hear the best music in Ghana 10 Jul 2009 from TwitterFon

princessattia This weekend Barack Obama will be in GHANA ! 10 Jul 2009 from web

sacredbird RT @todayshow: Hotel Obama opens in Ghana. Video: http://tr.im/rJq2 10 Jul 2009 from TweetDeck

nas009 Bemused at Obama mania in Ghana. Read my thoughts at www.africanwomensdevelopmentfund.blogspot.com 10 Jul 2009 from web

Here’s a video I made capturing the mood in the capital:

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Gaddafi pushes AU to adopt EU format

K Mensah — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:28:49 +0000

Per AfricaNews: Libyan leader and current head of the African Union Muammar Gaddafi is pushing hard at a summit he is hosting for African leaders to adopt his age long and ‘controversial’ plan of turning the African Union (AU) into a bloc similar to the European Union (EU).

Twitters interested in African affairs are keeping an eye over the summit and are twitting about unfolding events in and around Libya:

ChristoMove (Johannesburg, South Africa) Ahmadinejad & Gaddafi – why does that somehow make me think of Saddam and Satan in the South Park movie? 01 Jul 2009 from TweetDeck

returntox (London, U.K.) Muammar Gaddafi wants United States of Africa to include “Caribbean islands”… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7883178.stm 03 Jul 2009 from web

alexbhill (Detroit, Mich.) Reader: Africa: Museveni Opposes Gaddafi Over United Africa http://tinyurl.com/kk5jht 02 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed

IMRA_UPDATES (Israel) Ahmadinejad no-show at African Union summit http://bit.ly/FKV5X 02 Jul 2009 from web

sefermpost (International) Blogging ‘African Union Summit: Members Tackle Challenges’ http://bit.ly/BNAmB 02 Jul 2009 from TypePad

Roger_Pociask (Greensboro, N.C.) AFRICAN UNION Summit in Libya – Agenda & Schedule page http://bit.ly/OuxzI 03 Jul 2009 from web

aids_tweets (Amsterdam, Netherlands) African Union summit focuses on economic growth and food security Leaders and representatives from some 50 African cou.. http://bit.ly/6iv44 03 Jul 2009 from API

CameroonTV (Yaounde, Cameroon) Africa: Good Governance Drive Makes Progress – A day ahead of this year’s African Union summit in Libya, the 11th m… http://ow.ly/15GM9M 03 Jul 2009 from HootSuite

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South Africa ‘catches’ swine flu, first case confirmed

K Mensah — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:22:58 +0000

Per BBC: South Africa’s first swine flu case – a 12-year-old boy who flew in from the U.S. – has been confirmed. The boy was admitted to a private hospital on Monday morning and discharged after treatment, said health ministry spokesman Fidel Hadebe.
Laboratory tests came back positive on Thursday for the H1N1 virus.

Twitterers in South Africa were mostly concerned by the news:

BuzzBWS (Johannesburg, South Africa) *Sigh* swine flu has landed in South Africa 19 Jun 2009 from mobile web

karlea (Cape Town, South Africa) and now swine flu is in South Africa… http://tiny.cc/YSQ9O 19 Jun 2009 from web

julesZA (Johannesburg, South Africa) I don’t believe the SA government it taking the Swine Flu incident seriously enough. And now the doctors strike. Good timing. 19 Jun 2009 from web

GrantNash (Johannesburg, South Africa) Am I the only person worried about the little child with Swine Flu ?. Peeps have died for this you know. Im putting my mask back on…. 19 Jun 2009 from web

anib (Cape Town, South Africa) @BreakingTweets I’m not concerned about H1N1. It was one American kid. We’re not that paranoid. We’ll be fine. 19 Jun 2009 from web in reply to BreakingTweets

SAWDIS (Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa) South Africa’s first case of the H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, was confirmed on 18 June 2009. http://bit.ly/14DkCw 19 Jun 2009 from TweetDeck

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Africa celebrates its children

K Mensah — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:13:56 +0000

Per GBC in Ghana, the 19th edition of the Day of the African Child was observed in most parts of the world yesterday. The day was set aside by the African Union to commemorate the 1976 massacre of school children in Soweto, South Africa.

The celebration is to bring into focus, issues that affect the effective development of children and their well being. It is no secret that since the Day was set aside in 1990, some amount of progress has been made regarding the four main pillars of children’s rights, namely survival, development, protection and participation.

Twitterers worldwide took time off to join in the celebration:

chicblvd (California) RT @compassion Pray for the millions of children in Africa that struggle every day with extreme poverty. Today is Day of the African Child. 16 Jun 2009 from web

RightToPlayNL (Rotterdam, Netherlands) Celebrating the Day of the African Child with 400 kids was great! Check it out on http://www.righttoplay.nl/smartsite.dws?id=2131 17 Jun 2009 from web

solarafrica (Africa) In Sub Saharan Africa 1 in 7 children die before their 5th bday. Day of the African Child briefing report on MDG4. http://bit.ly/CaOWw 17 Jun 2009 from bit.ly

mensah (Accra, Ghana) I hope every African child will one day have access to free basic education as I celebrate belated Day of the Africa Child. 17 Jun 2009 from twhirl

jillc8354 (Undisclosed) Today is the Day of the African Child, in memory of thousands of children who were killed in the 1976 Soweto uprising…Please remember. 17 Jun 2009 from web

lhtorres (Cambridge, Mass.) Great #peacetile made by South African youth to share in honor of Day of the African Child: http://bit.ly/wU5F2 more at http://bit.ly/EF1yh 17 Jun 2009 from TweetDeck

MaritalSecrets (Dallas, Texas) Nigeria: First Lady Turai Decries Infant Mortality Rate: As Nigeria marks the Day of the African Child today, Fi.. http://bit.ly/cSyDj 17 Jun 2009 from twitterfeed

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Africa banks hope on World Economic Forum

K Mensah — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:30:26 +0000

Per AfricaNews: African leaders have been urged to transform the current global economic crisis into an opportunity to develop, the chair of the Africa Progress Panel (APP) and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. He said African leaders should bargain for shared responsibility with their international partners at the ongoing World Economic Forum in South Africa.

Would Africa see any meaningful outcome after the flamboyant forum or would it remain as is? Twitterers share their views:

napakade (Undisclosed) World economic forum ….is just talk show ? 11 Jun 2009 from web

iselorm (Unknown) on the first day of the world economic forum, i hope that some better ideas will start flowing… China obviously wants in on more action… 12 hours, 8 minutes ago from TweetDeck

CapeTown (Cape Town, South Africa)Question: Who are at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town? Impressions for Bush Radio interview later today? 4 hours, 36 minutes ago from web

katefrancis13 (Johannesburg, South Africa)Listening to the live stream of the World Economic Forum on Africa: http://tr.im/ForumLive 2 hours, 43 minutes ago from web

DraycottMC (G1: Torrington St, Grimsby) Groundbreaking report on educating the new wave of entrepreneneurs from the World Economic Forum? Visit http://twurl.nl/o6wobn 2 hours, 24 minutes ago from TwitterFox

allvoices (San Francisco, California)Alms for Africa!: With great interest last night I watched the news commentary on the World Economic Forum. Why .. http://tinyurl.com/mnz6tw 1 hour, 33 minutes ago from twitterfeed

vaiper66 (Unknown)at the world economic forum on africa in Cape town. gr8 turnout. Presidents Zuma, kagame, banda, Odinga here along with kofi annan 40 minutes ago from web

mandyjwatson (Cape Town, South Africa) I think I can safely say that I’m the only person at the World Economic Forum playing My Brute. 23 minutes ago from web

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Africa mourns death of longest serving president

K Mensah — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:21:03 +0000

Per AfricaNews: Africans are mourning the death of its longest serving president Omar Bongo of Gabon. He died on Monday of heart attack at aged 73 in a Spanish clinic. His death was confirmed by the country’s Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong in a written statement on Monday.

Per BBC: People had already been stockpiling food in the capital Libreville following rumours of the president’s death earlier in the day. They feared shops would shut. Bongo led Gabon since 1967, but stopped work in May. He faced a French inquiry into corruption allegations.

Twitterers across the continent and beyond share their views about the man who led Gabon since 1967:

ApresBongo (Libreville, Gabon) Le directeur de publication de la Lettre du Continent affirme que le Gabon peut vivre sans Omar Bongo (The editor of La Lettre du Continent asserts that Gabon can live without Omar Bongo) 08 Jun 2009 from web

ETAMBA (Cameroon) bon, là, il est vraiment mort le vieux Bongo. Et y’en a qui ne le pleureront pas ( (Well, he is really dead old Bongo. And y’en who does not cry: (() 07 Jun 2009 from web

yn3 (Douala, Cameroon) BONGO EST MORT !!!!!!!! NOW, LA SUITE ! (BONGO IS DEAD !!!!!!!! NOW, THE END!) 07 Jun 2009 from web

geoffwetblanket (Greater London, U.K.) RIP President Bongo of Gabon 07 Jun 2009 from web

forakin (Amsterdam, Netherlands) The sad revealing thing about Omar Bongo’s death is that after 42 years of leading Gabon, he had to die in Spain. 08 Jun 2009 from Power Twitter

lanjr (Yaoundé, Cameroon) Omar Bongo is dead.It is now comfirm by the PM of Gabon.Let there be peace in Gabon and a lesson to all aged leaders in Africa. 08 Jun 2009 from web

TIMIDLAW2 (Abuja, Nigeria) OMAR BONGO IS DEAD 08 Jun 2009 from web

BCULTURAL (Redlands, Calif.) Sad to hear about Omar Bongo’s death. I started hearing about him when I was a young girl. God rest his soul in peace! 08 Jun 2009 from web

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Zimbabwe PM begs for money in Europe, USA

K Mensah — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:47:43 +0000

Per AfricaNews: Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is moving around parts of Europe and the United States of America in search of billions of dollars to salvage the economy of his country. Tsvangirai, who left on Saturday, is visiting the Netherlands, Britain, France, United States, Brussels and Sweden. He also hopes to lobby the leaders to lift sanctions on his dying southern African country.

He will meet U.S. President Barack Obama in a four-day trip to Washington.

Twitterers with keen interest on Zimbabwe are skeptical about any positive outcome of the visit and analyze Tsvangirai’s efforts:

gabgabgabby (Ecosse, Scotland) ZIMBABWE: Western diplomats say whilst Tsvangirai will be well received his chances of securing the funding package are “highly remote!” 9 hours, 52 minutes ago from web

nv_africa (South Africa) Tsvangirai sets off on world fundraising trip http://tinyurl.com/oc7wf2 7 hours, 36 minutes ago from web

mikecorder (Voorburg, Netherlands) After dalai lama last week, today’s freedom fighter is Morgan tsvangirai http://yfrog.com/0p577hj 6 hours, 20 minutes ago from Twitterrific

judithineuropa (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Zim president Tsvangirai is in NL en gaat morgen naar de VS voor meeting met Obama. Dat had Mugabe nooit gelukt. (President Tsvangirai Zim is in NL and tomorrow to the U.S. for meeting with Obama. That Mugabe had never succeeded.) 5 hours, 7 minutes ago from web

loeschout (The Netherlands) negative: progress hard to see, Tsvangirai: give us more time ira only 3 months 3 hours, 57 minutes ago from mobile web

barboletas @judithineuropa (Unknown) Tsvangirai is volgens mij de premier, en Mugabe nog steeds president. Verder: mooie vooruitgang voor Zimbabwe! (Tsvangirai is in my opinion the prime minister and Mugabe remains president. And: great progress for Zimbabwe!) 10 minutes ago from web in reply to judithineuropa

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